Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c15.87

c15.87

A somewhat extensive use of turned wood is noteworthy. The feet and legs (Pl. IX., 6) of benches, beds and seats were often turned, but it is perhaps in window bars (Pl. IX., 2 and 3) balcony railings (Pl. VIII., upper story of Māligāva), and vehicles (Fig. 2) that turning is most resorted to. It is less often used in the case of larger constructional pillars.¹ Not uncommon is a mixed form in which a pillar or leg is half turned and half thirmed (Pl. IX., 6); the handles of tools, such as bill hooks, and of cressets (Pl. XLV., 5), are often similarly treated. Turned railings are usually lacquered in rings of red and yellow and green or black. The form of the turned rails or pillars is usually very satisfactory, contrasting markedly with work now done. It appears to be a craft in which degeneration of form takes place with peculiar readiness.